Jimenez1

Devin Jimenez

Professor Rebecca Morean

ENG 1201

March 24, 2020

What funds would be needed for a trip to Mars?

Traveling to a different planet was once a sci-fi movie idea, but with the advancements in

technology and research we have today, that idea can now be a reality. NASA currently has a

budget of 22.6 billion dollars (Amadeo), but how much of that could be used for traveling to

Mars, and how can they get more funding to make this trip safe?

Since 1998, NASA’s budget has increased by more than 52 percent (Amadeo). They are

funded by the government, but their budget provides incentives for businesses that partner and

support their projects such as, deep space exploration. (Amadeo). A lot of the major projects and

missions that NASA has accomplished have all came from private business funds. (Amadeo).

In 2019, President Trump announced a budget increase of an additional 1.6-billion-dollar

fund for NASA to find ways to travel into deep space (Chang). But how much of that would be

used specifically for Mars? It is estimated that the cost of sending four people on a one-way trip

to Mars would be roughly 6 billion US dollars. For every mission after that, it would cost about 4

billion (Mission Budget - Finance and Feasibility - Mars One.). All these costs can increase if

there are malfunctions, but there are also opportunities for the costs to decrease. One opportunity

for a lower cost would be if a larger economical friendly jet launcher became available. (Mission

Budget - Finance and Feasibility - Mars One.).

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There are many cons when it comes to traveling to Mars. Some of these include the risk

of cost-overrun, keeping the astronauts safe, and making sure every component is working

correctly. There are many risks in every step needed for this to succeed. From astronaut

selection, to training, and launch, there needs to be zero failures. (Risks and Challenges - Mission

- Mars One)

Even though this is risky, there are also pros to going to Mars. Some of these pros to go

would be the ensure the survival of the human species, discovering new life, and to improve to

quality of our life here on Earth. (Orwig) Putting humans on Mars would help bring many

benefits that could help us survive longer. Another pro would be helping with politics. The first

country to get to Mars would have a great political and economic advantages that would

outweigh the cons. (Orwig)

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Works Cited

Amadeo, Kimberly. “How $1 Spent on NASA Adds $10 to the Economy.” The Balance, The

Balance, 27 Feb. 2020, www.thebalance.com/nasa-budget-current-funding-and-history-

Accessed 1 March 2020

Chang, Kenneth. “For Artemis Mission to Moon, NASA Seeks to Add Billions to Budget.” The

New York Times, The New York Times, 14 May

2019.www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/trump-nasa-mars. Accessed 1 March 2020

Mars One. 2020. Mission Budget - Finance And Feasibility - Mars One. [online] Available at:
<https://www.mars-one.com/faq/finance-and-feasibility/what-is-mars-ones-mission-
budget> [Accessed 25 March 2020]

Mars One. 2020. Risks And Challenges - Mission - Mars One. [online] Available at:
<https://www.mars-one.com/mission/risks-and-challenges> [Accessed 25 March 2020]

Orwig, J., 2020. 5 Undeniable Reasons Humans Need To Colonize Mars — Even Though It's
Going To Cost Billions. [online] Business Insider. Available at:
<https://www.businessinsider.com/5-undeniable-reasons-why-humans-should-go-to
-mars-2015-4> [Accessed 25 March 2020].